Chapter 85 – A life and death gamble

Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 85! Hope you'll enjoy it!

Small (Or big?) change for Book 1. I previously planned on re-editing the whole book before formatting it into an Ebook (The story will still be available here but you'll be able to buy the book from Patre0n if you want to support my work). The thing is, it became a full re-writing instead of a simple re-editing, which ended up being too much for me to the point that I lost almost all motivation to do it in the first place. So I decided to stick to simple grammar mistake correction unless the mistake was too big for me to let it be. Every correction will only end up on Patre0n, though (Unless it's one of you who pointed out one of my mistakes). The reason being that I post on 5 platform, Patre0n included, so updating everywhere takes too much time. I'd rather spend that time writing more chapters instead. So far, I corrected the first 29 chapters and I'll you know when I'm done with it. Hopefully, it won't take too much time if I do it that way.

Anyway, that's it for this week. See you all next week!

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Molvograd, Molkovia, Earth.

Demian's P.O.V.

The following events happened extremely quickly. First, Demian's lower body was chained to the ground by Danilov's Spell, the thorns covering those roots deeply embedding themselves into his muscles. The only part still untouched was his private parts, not due to the other man's mercy, but simply because those wooden stakes were incapable of piercing through the thick Water Shield placed there. Demian did not mind receiving injuries, however, there was still a limit to what kind of wounds he was ready to endure. While subconsciously noting how much lighter his injuries were compared to the previous attack, he sensed his other Water Shields crumble from the Blade Formation's onslaught, prompting him to throw his Fist Technique toward it.

As the Elemental shock waves hit those Blades, more than 80% of them were destroyed, bringing a shocked expression to both Danilov's and Pietr's faces. As for the rest of them, they were not slowed down in the slightest and stabbed his body, drilling through the layer of skin and muscles until they were stopped right before reaching his organs. They then dissolved into Metal Energy and tried to worsen his injuries instinctively. However, it was all in vain as they swiftly disappeared to become nourishment for Demian's growth. With a swift sweep from his Divine Sense, he felt himself advancing closer and closer toward the Low Eighth Level. 'A few attacks like that one and that should be enough...' He analyzed with a mix of satisfaction and anticipation. There was just one thing that bothered him. 'The gain from Danilov's Spells are practically nonexistent.' As his strength grew, his Perks seemed to grow, and he could now vaguely sense if an injury helped him grow. In that case, only Pietr's Blade Formation helped improve his strength slightly, while the other man's Thorns were virtually useless. 'Is it because he didn't use True Elemental Energy but Spiritual Energy instead?' He pondered briefly.

While a sliver of his mind was busy researching the inner workings of his Physiology Perk, his movements were as fluid as water. With a slight thought, numerous dark blue droplets appeared around his body before flying toward the roots restraining his legs, destroying them instantly before vanishing from Energy exhaustion. 'I really need to find a strong one-hit Spell. The Water Bullet Spell is really too weak when I'm against someone more powerful than me.' He decided after noticing how quickly those Water Elemental droplets were used up despite being against a Spell powered with only Spiritual Energy. 'Liquid Spiritual Energy is really something!' He exclaimed inwardly. 'Whatever! I can still use it for distraction.' He contemplated while circulating his Elemental Energy in his right leg while vaguely following the Energy Patterns of his Tide Fist.

Instantly, Demian rotated his waist, bent his left leg slightly, and threw a fierce kick toward Danilov in one fluid movement. Those stacked Elemental shock waves that preceded his foot were incredibly similar to those created by his Tidal Fist Technique. Indeed, the Technique was altered by the young man to become a kicking Technique, which even ended up becoming stronger than the original. After all, legs are more powerful than arms and could thus store more Elemental Energy. All in all, it was a perfect Technique to surprise those unaware opponents.

As his foot was coming closer to the other man's left arm, a mocking glint appeared in Demian's eyes at Danilov's desperate attempt at defending. Indeed, with a panicked look on his face, the latter hurriedly materialized a few Golden Shields to protect his left arm from his attack. Despite feeling a tinge of satisfaction at his reaction, Demian knew that now was not the time to become distracted. He thus sharpened his focus on his attack and shoved any other thoughts to the side.

As if someone had used a Time Spell, everything slowed down in his perception to the point that everyone, including himself, seemed to move in slow motion. After what seemed to be forever, but instead had barely taken a fraction of a second, his foot made contact with the first of three hastily created Elemental Shields, smashing it into pieces instantly. The second hovering behind the first did not fare much better, crumbling as soon as the upper part of the young man's bare foot touched it. With a great amount of Energy remaining and a weakened enemy, the third Elemental Shield's fate was obviously identical to the previous two, leaving only Danilov's 'physical' defense against the young man's attack.

Unfortunately for the usually arrogant Foundation Building Cultivator, using a Mid Chi Gathering Normal Physique to endure a kick from someone with a Special Physique that was about to reach High Elementary Grade was the height of stupidity. The result was similar to having an adult stepping onto an insect: Smashed into meat paste. At that moment, Danilov had curled his left arm and moved it in front of his incoming attack, in what seemed to be his last hope of protecting his heart from getting obliterated. His opponent's reaction prompted Demian to change his plan, not because the man's arm would have done much to stop him, but because he did not want to kill the man instantly.

Thus, with the incredible mastery he had over his own body, the foot that was moving horizontally toward the man's arm guarding his upper chest suddenly moved diagonally, aiming this time at Danilov's unprotected waist. To any normal Chi Gathering Cultivator, that movement would have been impossible, but since Demian had a Water Attributed Special Physique, he did not find it too difficult. Only a slight decrease in kicking power happened due to the maneuver, however, it was pretty much negligible.

At that moment, his foot finally reached the side of the older man's abdomen. Extremely quickly in reality but slow as a snail in his perception, his foot started cutting through skin, muscles, organs, and even bones. In an instant, Danilov went from completely uninjured to having his upper and lower body separated at the waist. Demian's attack speed was so quick that the other man's upper body seemed to float in the air for an instant before gravity reappeared, bringing the dying Cultivator's body parts to the ground in a gory mess. Blood, pieces of organs, and other unidentified, but still unpleasant substances were constantly leaving the man's body through the two lethal injuries. Thankfully, Demian had already killed people in the past and had a strong Mind, making it easier to ignore the sickening scene.

While keeping his Divine Sense on Pietr to avoid being sneaked attack, he bent his head slightly to gaze at Valentin's face, the latter filled with a mix of fear, hate, and regrets. Shaking his head slightly, Demian muttered. "If you hadn't targeted my family, you'd still be alive. Let it be a lesson for your next life." As those words left his lips, the vitality emitting from Danilov's body finally vanished completely, leaving only regrets in his lifeless eyes. Shaking his head slightly, he swiftly shoved the complicated emotions surging in his mind to a corner before turning toward the man currently flying around in the air. The man looked royally pissed since he was forced to defend himself against sniper bullets constantly flying in his direction. Those bullets seemed coated in a familiar Elemental Energy which was probably why the man had to defend himself against them, instead of ignoring them.

'And here I was struggling against that guy earlier while Sera can easily make him go on the defensive. She's really something!' He thought wryly. Naturally, he was aware that it was not that the Elven woman was inherently stronger than him. Instead, it was her Void Shadow Elemental Energy that had some peculiar properties, making it impossible for someone she targeted to sense her attack through their Divine Sense. Most Cultivators were used to perceiving the world around them mainly through their Spiritual Will, whether in peaceful situations or during a fight. Thus, by forcing them to use their physical senses to deal with her attacks, she effectively crippled a part of their strength. After all, your eyes may see the attack coming from the front, but who knew if there was not one also coming from the back?

The mix of frustration and anger plastered on the man's face was all Demian needed to understand how effective his beautiful lover was in a life-and-death battle. 'Well, I'm not sure it'd be as effective against Cultivators with stronger Elemental Fields.' He pondered briefly while dashing toward the man standing on his flying disk. Once his feet brought him closer to the enemy, he started to materialize some Water droplets around him and sent them flying in Pietr's direction. 'Not being able to fly is really annoying!' He inwardly complained while doing his best to aim at the least protected parts of the older man's body.

Naturally, the Foundation Building Cultivator was not someone to let himself be shot at without retaliating. Especially since Demian was a much easier target than the female sniper. Without even looking his way, the powerful man started throwing Spell after Spell toward the young man while the latter retaliated in kind with his Water Spells and Water Techniques. Of course, the two's goals were different. While Pietr was obviously trying his best to either smash the young man into meat paste or cut him into little bloody pieces, Demian was regulating the strength he injected into his attack to let a precise amount of the enemy's offense hit his body. The injuries resulting from the Spells raining on him were heavy enough to boost his power growth, but not enough to incapacitate him.

Looking at the deteriorating expression on Pietr's face, Demian could tell that the other man had caught onto his plan. However, what could he do? Could he stop throwing Spells at Demian to avoid helping him grow? Even if one did not mention the fact that it would simply slow his power increase and not halt it completely, the older man would just be drained to death from his constant assault. Could he flee by himself? With the help of Seraphine's long-range sniping, there was no way the other man could both defend and fly away at the same time. All in all, the opponent was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Or more specifically, between being killed instantly and being killed a bit later.

From an external point of view, the situation seemed completely abnormal. On one side, a Foundation Building Cultivator kept dishing out powerful Metal and Earth Attributed Spells toward a Chi Gathering Cultivator while looking down at him from tens of meters high in the air. On the other side, the Chi Gathering Rank young man kept suffering grave injuries before they were healed and he suffered some new wounds. Not only were his injuries healing at high speed, but his aura was becoming both stronger and a bit unstable, hinting that he was not far from a Cultivation breakthrough. Because he used just enough Elemental Energy in his Spells and Techniques, his reserve not only did not dwindle but instead was visibly increasing. Of course, his Perk was the main 'culprit' behind that situation.

'So satisfying!' Demian exclaimed inwardly as the degree of pain he felt for each injury had decreased to the lowest threshold possible, leaving only a slight tingle corresponding to the gravity of the wound. The feeling of contentment was naturally not due to the damage he received but instead because of the change in his Cultivation Base. After numerous Spells striking against his flesh, he was 'finally' able to touch the barrier separating him from the Eighth Level. Unfortunately, Pietr chose this time to stop his onslaught on Demian and opted to defend himself with some relatively small Earth and Metal Shields. 'Is he trying to save his Elemental Energy? What's the point?' Demian guessed with some frustration.

As if to answer his question, he felt some much stronger fluctuations coming from Brynhild's side. While keeping a part of his attention on distracting Pietr, he started to carefully sense his cousin's situation before a solemn look appeared on his face. 'Her injuries are starting to pile up... I need to deal with that guy as quickly as I can or something bad is bound to happen.' He analyzed coldly. It did not take too much brainpower to understand his enemy's strategy: Distracting one enemy while killing another, and then the two would regroup to deal with the one still alive. 'Is it a 'great minds think alike' situation?' He thought wryly before taking a deep breath. 'No choice. I need to take some risk or I won't be able to make it.'

Having made his decision, Demian started circulating his Water Elemental Energy through his four limbs in some particular patterns, stretching his mental power to the limits to manipulate such potent Energy in such a complicated manner, especially since it was the first time he used his Tidal Technique through all his limbs. 'So far so good. Just some slight tearing in some Spiritual Veins, but nothing permanent.' He analyzed while accumulating his semi-liquid Nine-layered Elemental Energy until he could not compress it anymore. At that moment, his opponent seemed to sense that something was wrong as he started materializing Elemental Thorny Roots and Metallic Hook Chains around the young man's body to restrain him.

If he was still playing it safe, Demian would have simply blasted those nuisances with a few well-placed punches and let his Perk Absorb the Elemental Energy that invaded his body through the Thorns and Hooks stabbed in his flesh. Unfortunately, time was not on his side. Thus, he decided on the stupidest option. 'Go big or go home!' He exclaimed inwardly while wearing an excited expression that seemed incongruous with the situation he found himself in. After bending his knees a little, his legs' muscles then went into overdrive, pushing against the ground while instantly discharging the Nine-Layered Elemental Energy stored in his lower limbs.

The resulting double shock waves coupled with his own physical strength created a massive pit below his feet while propelling his bleeding body toward the hovering man at extreme speed. The latter, clearly surprised by the suicidal move, was a beat late to react, giving Demian's Perk the time to do its magic and heal his body completely while he swiftly reached striking distance from the older man. Sadly, Pietr was clearly a fighting veteran and his previous mistake was simply due to how abnormal Demian was. Thus, the Foundation Building Cultivator materialized a single Golden Lance in front of the young man's path before making it fly in Demian's direction.

Through his Spiritual Will, the young man estimated that being struck by that powerful Elemental Spell, even if he could survive thanks to his Perk, would definitely temporarily cripple him and leave him incapable of protecting himself for a short time. However, if he were to use his Tidal Fists on the Lance, Pietr would have enough time to fly away from him. After all, Demian was only able to jump in a straight line while the other could fly, even if it was just through the use of an external object. 'If I let him go this time, he'll have his guard up against similar attacks... No! I already decided to take the risk, so I won't chicken out! Go big or go home!' He inwardly decided as a mad glint appeared in his eyes and a matching grin on his face.

Pietr's previously mocking gaze immediately turned solemn when Demian threw two punches in his direction while seemingly ignoring the Lance that was about to pierce his chest. While noting the change in the other man's eyes, switching from solemnity to outright panic, the young man exclaimed inwardly. 'Since you want to play, I'll play with you!'